diff --git a/src/entrypoints/cli.tsx b/src/entrypoints/cli.tsx
index 0f6260bdc..193ac8a34 100644
--- a/src/entrypoints/cli.tsx
+++ b/src/entrypoints/cli.tsx
@@ -134,6 +134,13 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
 
   await validateProviderEnvForStartupOrExit()
 
+  // #808: --model alone (no --provider) — route to the env var matching the
+  // active provider before the banner prints so the override is visible.
+  if (args.includes('--model')) {
+    const { applyModelFlagFromArgs } = await import('../utils/providerFlag.js')
+    applyModelFlagFromArgs(args)
+  }
+
   // Parse --model early so the startup screen can display the override
   const { eagerParseCliFlag } = await import('../utils/cliArgs.js')
   const earlyModelFlag = eagerParseCliFlag('--model')
diff --git a/src/utils/providerFlag.test.ts b/src/utils/providerFlag.test.ts
index 086e6d152..9d60f6c52 100644
--- a/src/utils/providerFlag.test.ts
+++ b/src/utils/providerFlag.test.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, test } from 'bun:test'
 import {
   parseProviderFlag,
+  parseModelFlag,
   applyProviderFlag,
   applyProviderFlagFromArgs,
+  applyModelFlagFromArgs,
   VALID_PROVIDERS,
 } from './providerFlag.js'
 
@@ -10,6 +12,7 @@ const ENV_KEYS = [
   'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI',
   'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GEMINI',
   'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GITHUB',
+  'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_MISTRAL',
   'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK',
   'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX',
   'OPENAI_BASE_URL',
@@ -21,6 +24,8 @@ const ENV_KEYS = [
   'BNKR_API_KEY',
   'XAI_API_KEY',
   'MINIMAX_API_KEY',
+  'MISTRAL_MODEL',
+  'ANTHROPIC_MODEL',
 ]
 
 const originalEnv: Record<string, string | undefined> = {}
@@ -36,6 +41,7 @@ const RESET_KEYS = [
   'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI',
   'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GEMINI',
   'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GITHUB',
+  'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_MISTRAL',
   'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK',
   'CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX',
   'OPENAI_BASE_URL',
@@ -47,6 +53,8 @@ const RESET_KEYS = [
   'BNKR_API_KEY',
   'XAI_API_KEY',
   'MINIMAX_API_KEY',
+  'MISTRAL_MODEL',
+  'ANTHROPIC_MODEL',
 ] as const
 
 beforeEach(() => {
@@ -389,3 +397,82 @@ describe('applyProviderFlagFromArgs', () => {
     expect(applyProviderFlagFromArgs(['--model', 'gpt-4o'])).toBeUndefined()
   })
 })
+
+// --- parseModelFlag ---
+
+describe('parseModelFlag', () => {
+  test('returns model value when --model is present', () => {
+    expect(parseModelFlag(['--model', 'gpt-4o-mini'])).toBe('gpt-4o-mini')
+  })
+
+  test('returns null when --model is absent', () => {
+    expect(parseModelFlag(['--provider', 'openai'])).toBeNull()
+  })
+
+  test('returns null when --model has no value', () => {
+    expect(parseModelFlag(['--model'])).toBeNull()
+  })
+
+  test('returns null when --model value looks like another flag', () => {
+    expect(parseModelFlag(['--model', '--provider'])).toBeNull()
+  })
+})
+
+// --- applyModelFlagFromArgs (#808) ---
+
+describe('applyModelFlagFromArgs', () => {
+  test('is a no-op when --model is absent', () => {
+    applyModelFlagFromArgs(['--ide'])
+    expect(process.env.OPENAI_MODEL).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(process.env.GEMINI_MODEL).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(process.env.ANTHROPIC_MODEL).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
+  test('is a no-op when --provider is also present (handled by applyProviderFlagFromArgs)', () => {
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI = '1'
+    applyModelFlagFromArgs(['--provider', 'openai', '--model', 'gpt-4o'])
+    expect(process.env.OPENAI_MODEL).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
+  test('sets OPENAI_MODEL when CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI is active', () => {
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI = '1'
+    applyModelFlagFromArgs(['--model', 'gpt-4o-mini'])
+    expect(process.env.OPENAI_MODEL).toBe('gpt-4o-mini')
+  })
+
+  test('sets GEMINI_MODEL when CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GEMINI is active', () => {
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GEMINI = '1'
+    applyModelFlagFromArgs(['--model', 'gemini-2.0-flash'])
+    expect(process.env.GEMINI_MODEL).toBe('gemini-2.0-flash')
+  })
+
+  test('sets MISTRAL_MODEL when CLAUDE_CODE_USE_MISTRAL is active', () => {
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_MISTRAL = '1'
+    applyModelFlagFromArgs(['--model', 'devstral-latest'])
+    expect(process.env.MISTRAL_MODEL).toBe('devstral-latest')
+  })
+
+  test('sets OPENAI_MODEL when CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GITHUB is active', () => {
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GITHUB = '1'
+    applyModelFlagFromArgs(['--model', 'gpt-4.1'])
+    expect(process.env.OPENAI_MODEL).toBe('gpt-4.1')
+  })
+
+  test('falls back to ANTHROPIC_MODEL when no provider flag is set', () => {
+    applyModelFlagFromArgs(['--model', 'claude-sonnet-4-6'])
+    expect(process.env.ANTHROPIC_MODEL).toBe('claude-sonnet-4-6')
+  })
+
+  test('overrides an existing *_MODEL value (saved profile override)', () => {
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI = '1'
+    process.env.OPENAI_MODEL = 'gpt-4o'
+    applyModelFlagFromArgs(['--model', 'gpt-4o-mini'])
+    expect(process.env.OPENAI_MODEL).toBe('gpt-4o-mini')
+  })
+
+  test('accepts --model value containing colons (ollama tag syntax)', () => {
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI = '1'
+    applyModelFlagFromArgs(['--model', 'qwen2.5-coder:14b'])
+    expect(process.env.OPENAI_MODEL).toBe('qwen2.5-coder:14b')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/utils/providerFlag.ts b/src/utils/providerFlag.ts
index 04f0857a1..7b3d720b7 100644
--- a/src/utils/providerFlag.ts
+++ b/src/utils/providerFlag.ts
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ export function applyProviderFlagFromArgs(
  * Extract the value of --model from argv.
  * Returns null if absent.
  */
-function parseModelFlag(args: string[]): string | null {
+export function parseModelFlag(args: string[]): string | null {
   const idx = args.indexOf('--model')
   if (idx === -1) return null
   const value = args[idx + 1]
@@ -120,6 +120,49 @@ function getRouteDefaults(provider: string): {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Apply --model (without --provider) to process.env for the current process only.
+ *
+ * Issue #808: `openclaude --model <name>` should work standalone so users can
+ * override the session model without reconfiguring a profile or polluting the
+ * shell with OPENAI_MODEL=... Must run before the startup banner so the
+ * displayed model matches the flag, and before resolution paths that read the
+ * provider-specific *_MODEL env var directly.
+ *
+ * Routes the value to the env var matching the already-active provider
+ * (detected from CLAUDE_CODE_USE_* vars set by saved profile or env). Returns
+ * undefined when --model is absent or --provider is present (that path is
+ * handled by applyProviderFlagFromArgs).
+ */
+export function applyModelFlagFromArgs(args: string[]): void {
+  if (args.includes('--provider')) return
+  const model = parseModelFlag(args)
+  if (!model) return
+
+  const useGemini =
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GEMINI === '1' ||
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GEMINI === 'true'
+  const useMistral =
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_MISTRAL === '1' ||
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_MISTRAL === 'true'
+  const useOpenAI =
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI === '1' ||
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_OPENAI === 'true'
+  const useGithub =
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GITHUB === '1' ||
+    process.env.CLAUDE_CODE_USE_GITHUB === 'true'
+
+  if (useGemini) {
+    process.env.GEMINI_MODEL = model
+  } else if (useMistral) {
+    process.env.MISTRAL_MODEL = model
+  } else if (useOpenAI || useGithub) {
+    process.env.OPENAI_MODEL = model
+  } else {
+    process.env.ANTHROPIC_MODEL = model
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Apply a provider name to process.env.
  * Sets the required CLAUDE_CODE_USE_* flag and any provider-specific